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Costa Mesa delivery experience -WOW!

I accompanied SIL yesterday as he took delivery of his Model 3LR - OBM color, aeros, VIN 709xx.

Just to give some perspective to Costa Mesa delivery:

We arrived at 3:15 for a 4:30 delivery appointment. Can't say we weren't excited or anything! The waiting room was uncrowded and relaxed (unlike a Sunday two weeks ago when you couldn't even get into the front door of the waiting room!). We were greeted immediately by friendly and enthusiastic young women who offered coffee and cold bottled water, checked us in on their computers, and said our delivery specialist would be a bit delayed............since we were a little early.

We were both a bit apprehensive after reading all the horror stories about Costa Mesa deliveries and we had a couple of potential problems - this delivery was still listed on My Account and I wanted to transfer it to my SIL and my SIL wanted to pay cash by ACH and Tesla had not giving him any instructions on how to pay in advance. We were both convinced we were going to be turned away empty handed, especially when the greeters told us those issues would be resolved by our delivery specialist. So we nervously decided to play with a red model 3 that was on the waiting room floor. About 15 minutes later, a young man stuck his head in the window, grinned, and said, "can I sell you one?" We said no, we already bought one and were waiting for our delivery specialist. He said, "Hi my name is Derek, I'm your delivery specialist and you two must be XX and XX?" SIL blurted out all the problems he expected and asked if we should we just go home. Derek said to follow him and he would see what needs to be done. He walked us through a door that said "employees only" and wow, into a large showroom area filled with 10 brightly lit brand new Teslas - 1 MX, 1 MS, and 8 TM3 - all under the lights! And right in front of us, front and center, was THE car we came for, just gorgeous!

There was an interesting ethnic mix taking possession of their new cars, not what I expected. They ranged from a single person to whole families with Grandma, Grandpa, Mom, Dad, and the kids. The atmosphere was calm, relaxed, upbeat, and enthusiastic. No stress, no strain, nobody rushing around, no angry shouting, no arms waving in the air, no pacing, just calm excitement. . And then Derek worked his magic! First, he had my SIL open up his ACH account on his smartphone and showed where to hit "send" to Tesla. He said he would go into the office and check to see if the money had been transferred while we inspected THE car, "take as long as you want." Although we had no checklist, we both had some idea what to look for - paint, weather seals, tail light condensation, panel alignment, A pillar fitment, headliner, etc...............................the car was perfect, a 10 on a scale of 10.

A few minutes later, Derek reappeared, and said, "that was instantaneous, you now own a Tesla! and oh, I transferred the car to your new Tesla account!" All "problems" solved! He proceeded to walk us through the orientation on the U.I., how to close the frunk, where all the included parts were located, etc. (I was able to show Derek a couple of tricks on the U.I. that I had learned on the Internet, He said he had no idea). Next came setting up SIL's smartphone, signing more papers, and questions from us. We asked what update the U.I. was on and he showed us where to find it on the U.I. "2018-28.11" with another update already scheduled for 2am this morning. He showed us how to name the car, which is now "BabaBoowie" from the Howard Stern show, and a lot more questions about just "stuff." And it was time to leave. The car had been on the charger all the time we were there and was charged to 90%. We looked at the clock on the U.I. and "What The Frunk", it was 5pm! We had just spent 90 minutes with Derek!!!!!!!!!! On a scale of 1 to 10, Derek gets a 100! Unbelievable delivery experience. I don't doubt a couple of people have had some issues at Costa Mesa, but we experienced something entirely different. YMMV.

Thank you Derek, you are the bomb and I let Fremont know too. I want you to be my delivery specialist when I get my model 3 (waiting for SAS).

To answer some questions in advance:

I didn't make time to read the release notes on update 28.11, too many good distractions

Obsidian Black is a winner, lots of metallic flake in the paint. Side by side picture with basic black won't show much difference, you have to experience the colors. Basic black is shiny, glossy, one dimensional. Obsidian is a satin finish (a lot more sheen than stealth finish though) with a lot of depth. It's like the difference between basic White and Pearl White. Slight change of color in the bright sun - very dark blue, dark green, dark purple - depends on how the sun reflects off the metallic flakes. OBM color has shot to the top of my color preference.

They had a basic Black there ready for the new owner who not arrived yet. I looked at the paint carefully and I would have rejected it. The paint was in need of color correction - water spots, surface scratches, a bird dropping that was the size of a quarter that had been removed but appeared to have etched the paint, etc.

Aero wheel covers look fabulous with OBM color especially when they flash and sparkle when underway. SIL said he hated them in photos. He had already purchased lug nut kit. Upon seeing the aero covers on HIS car, he said he's going to leave them on. He said they are like nothing else on the road and very unique. He now likes them.

To repeat what others have said, the U.I. screen is very bright (but brightness tuneable), lightning fast, and takes 5 minutes to become accustomed to it. Screen touch buttons are very responsive.

Of the 8 model 3s in the delivery showroom most were in the VIN 40xxx to 60xxx range.

No AWD, Performance, or white interiors in the delivery showroom at our time.

I asked Derek if this was the first OBM delivered at Costa Mesa. He said no, he had delivered one the previous day and a few more were scheduled for delivery the rest of this week and weekend,

Derek said please arrange delivery during the week so he can give personal attention. Avoid weekend deliveries at all costs.

Derek said the staff reads the Tesla forums like everyone else and some of the things they read are discouraging especially to the staff at Costa Mesa. He said that often there is more to the story than what is being told on the Internet but he would not elaborate

Upon arriving home after a 90 minute commute in 405 rush hour traffic at 5pm, (I followed in my car), SIL said, bummer!, rear sub-woofer is inop! I said not to worry, just a loose connection, and Buena Park SvC will fix it pronto. He then tried a soft reboot and "voila" sub-woofer is fixed with magnificent surround sound!

SIL set up Homelink, Samsung Android, profiles, charging schedule (his Nema 15-40 was installed last Sat.). Everything is working perfect.

Last night SIL gave rides to family who had gathered. My wife's first ride in a model 3. Her reaction (she is a senior), "this car is so fast it gives my neck a whip lash! When is MY model 3 coming?"

SIL took pictures, I didn't, will post photos when I get them.

Anything else I need to add? Really, put everything you read into perspective, especially the negative. This car is the FUTURE and it can't come soon enough for me!

Wow. Thank you for such an informative post! — I've been lurking in the CM delivery "horror" threads and when I saw your post pop-up, thought it was going to be another one of them. But happy to hear that it all turned out well!

I received an email from an IDA stating my AWD, OBM is almost ready for shipment to my delivery center. Really helpful to hear that you and the SIL are really happy with the OBM color. I'm pretty dang excited for it now. I was going to remove the Aero covers, but I might wait until I see it in the flesh before spending the $50.

Very glad to hear that your experience was much better than mine at the Costa Mesa delivery center. I'm sorry that the folks at that center are discouraged by remarks here at the forum but they should use it as a learning experience rather than a personal attack. Hopefully all future deliveries for folks will be as great as the one you experienced. My experience was not wonderful but I just love, love, love my Model 3 and can't wait to drive it every day. Darn - the wife is driving it today!

Very glad to hear that your experience was much better than mine at the Costa Mesa delivery center. I'm sorry that the folks at that center are discouraged by remarks here at the forum but they should use it as a learning experience rather than a personal attack. Hopefully all future deliveries for folks will be as great as the one you experienced. My experience was not wonderful but I just love, love, love my Model 3 and can't wait to drive it every day. Darn - the wife is driving it today!

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Did you have Derek for delivery? Ah, I see your delivery was on a Saturday. Avoid weekend delivery in Costa Mesa at all cost!

My daughter and SIL (son-in-law) live in Cypress. Look for the OBM model 3 'BabaBoowie' that is now the terror of Orange Ave.

Thanks for sharing your delivery experience. I also had a good delivery experience at Costa Mesa when I picked up my Model 3, 3 weeks ago. I'll be returning to have some small issues fixed when I need to rotate my tires at 6,250 miles

Did you have Derek for delivery? Ah, I see your delivery was on a Saturday. Avoid weekend delivery in Costa Mesa at all cost!

My daughter and SIL (son-in-law) live in Cypress. Look for the OBM model 3 'BabaBoowie' that is now the terror of Orange Ave.

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No and I don’t remember who was there. They were nice but the car had issues they couldn’t fix including paint on front passenger door sill and dust and smudges everywhere. They even detailed while I got breakfast and still it wasn’t great but I took the car home and got it coated elsewhere. I am close to Orange so will look for my car’s OBM sibling.

Very glad to hear that your experience was much better than mine at the Costa Mesa delivery center. I'm sorry that the folks at that center are discouraged by remarks here at the forum but they should use it as a learning experience rather than a personal attack. Hopefully all future deliveries for folks will be as great as the one you experienced. My experience was not wonderful but I just love, love, love my Model 3 and can't wait to drive it every day. Darn - the wife is driving it today!

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From what the OP posted it sounds like the staff are discouraged because the stories being reported here are not necessarily the whole truth. We are hearing just one side of the story.

Perhaps they do try and schedule more for weekday deliveries but because people normally work during the week, weekends become the obvious choice.

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Tesla is in complete control of the schedule. If the density of their weekend delivery schedule is such that it significantly degrades the delivery experience to the point that an employee recommends avoiding weekends at all cost then maybe Tesla should consider reducing the number of deliveries on the weekend.

Anyway, thanks to the OP for the delivery experience write-up. It's always good to hear about delivery experiences good and bad.

My parents did Costa Mesa. They had a FAR better experience than I did. I can't say mine was bad. I just don't like the 5 minutes and you're out experience. They got an hour of personalized time to learn the car on a weekend. I got 5-10 minutes on a weekday.

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